buzzed +- bts

chapter three [prayers]

'Are you stupid?'

Flecks of saliva landed onto my jeans from the fat, gluttonous tyrant of a businessman. Being sandwiched between the end of the couch and one of his lackeys left me in an uncomfortable position.

'You blindly accept some homeless girl roaming the street into your club with open arms. Fool!' He scoffed, eyeing my already distressed state with small, beady eyes. 'You don't know what she's capable of doing to destroy your business. Think Yoongi, use your head. It's not uncommon for other tracks to send some kind of spy...'

'She's hardly able to read and write in English from what I've been told. I'm not sure if there's anything to worry about. Our sales are perfectly fine and have been for the past few months.'

I stared back, clenching my fist tightly around the loose strings coming from the patched seating.

'Give it a few months. Men don't come to clubs to see the closed legged virgin. It's not what they're into, in fact I'm sure it'll only aggravate them even more. They want someone who will give them time worth their money; something they won't forget in the morning.'

'Tch.' My gaze faltered to the ground, looking at the different stains on the carpet. His cliche outlook on clubs had sounded similarly to that of a brothel which was a completely different concept. If anything he was the fool, running his mouth without a proper filter.

'I want profit to rise at least 12% within this next month.'

'And how do you suppose I go about doing that, sir?'

'Find a way. Why don't you use that little virgin of yours? I'm sure that'll have the men coming.' A sharp laughter rang throughout the room as he stood up with his henchmen and made their way to exit. Before opening the doors, he turned around with a smug look plastered on his face.

'You'd better have that 100,000 by next week Min.' The features on his face transformed into that of a cold, serious expression..

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the check laying on the table and brushed past them into the cold morning air.

-

'You've gotta be kidding me...' Jess widened her eyes in amazement. 'You've never had a single drink in your life?'

I shook my head feverishly, eyeing the exchanged looks between her and the co-worker I had met moments ago.

He had introduced himself as 'J,' not giving me his complete name. I had thought that to be a bit strange, but it seemed as if everyone had called him that here. He had quite a fit frame, and his height was a bit taller than average. Two earring adorned his left ear along with his mouth that seemed to twist into a smile at every comment.

Decked out in the storage room, the three of us had eaten too many crackers Jess managed to take from the kitchen. The new outfit had fit snugly around my thin frame, but I was in no position to complain.

'You haven't drunken, taken a smoke, or had sex ever?' The way the words left her lips almost sounded accusing.

Again, I nodded my head. 'No, I haven't...'

'How is she supposed to cope here? She can barely read a bit, and she can count cash but she's never taken a swig of vodka. I don't know how this is going to work, Jess.'

'That's why I'm supposed to teach her everything she needs to know. Boss hadn't given a rat's ass whether she was freezing out on the streets or not, but I had. Apparently when one person shows hospitality around here, they're automatically a babysitter.'

Those words stung. It made it seem as if I was a burden intruding on their lives. Perhaps stepping into this club had been a horrible idea, but I had no other choice. If I was sought after, I would be safer here than out on the alleys and streets.